


Harry Potter and the Crypt of Dreams

by PrincessaKyla



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2014-10-22
Updated: 2014-10-22
Packaged: 2018-02-22 04:46:31
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 2
Words: 5,805
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2494976
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PrincessaKyla/pseuds/PrincessaKyla
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In the years following Voldemort's downfall, all Death Eaters are tried for their crimes. But one has managed to escape and is following the last resort plan to bring Voldemort back once and for all -- the Crypt of Dreams. Will the Golden Trio be able to stop Voldemort's return once again? Will Harry be able to resist the lure of the Crypt, and the possibility of bringing his parents back?</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter One

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own Harry Potter, sadly. But there will probably be some OC's in here eventually, and the plot is entirely mine.

Hermione was becoming rather sick of testifying at Death Eater trials day in and day out. It was always the same line of questions, with no variation: Did you see, did you hear mention of, did you read about, did you duel with, were you threatened by. And they all ended with some variation of the phrase “in Voldemort’s service.” It was tiresome and it was gruesome and she was rather tired of repeating to the court things everyone already knew, simply for the sake of saying that these horrible people had been given a fair trial. They didn’t, in her opinion, deserve a fair trial. They had not given equality and fairness and so deserved none in return.  
“Hermione, come on,” Ron said quietly. He grabbed her hand gently and pulled her to the Ministry of Magic lifts that would take them to the courtrooms. “I know you don’t want to go, but we have to. If we don’t, those bastards could go free.” Numbly following him into the lifts, she turned and buried her face into his shoulder the minute they were moving.  
“I’m just so tired,” she murmured, snuggling closer. She suddenly looked up. “Where’s Harry?”  
“He’s already down in the courtroom. Kingsley needed him for something to do with protecting Minister Percy.” Ron snorted with slight disbelief, even a few months after the fact, that his brother Percy, one of the biggest prats in the world, had been made Minister of Magic. Percy being Minister had its perks, though – Harry and Ron had been exempted from their N.E.W.T.S. and been admitted directly into the Auror training program and Hermione had been accepted to a job working in the Office of Education. She was, in fact, Head of the Office of Education. What exactly she did all day, Ron was never really sure of. It had something to do with keeping an eye on Hogwarts and trying to keep it comparable with Beauxbatons, Durmstrang, and several other schools, as well as making sure that the Ministry knew what was going on at Hogwarts, both staff- and student-wise. The job of keeping in touch with McGonagall, the new Headmistress, had been entrusted in Hermione by Percy when it was revealed that McGonagall was not only still mad at Percy for his disbelief at Voldemort’s return, but still very distrusting of the Ministry after the trouble the former administration, Percy included, had put everyone through with their cowardice and stupidity, before then torturing some of her favorite former students. McGonagall was more than happy to keep Hermione informed of the goings-on at Hogwarts, though, and sent weekly updates of the general state of the school and its population of about four hundred students and twenty-five professors.  
With frazzled nerves, Hermione and Ron continued down to the courtrooms. Checking her make-up in a small hand mirror she deftly levitated in front of her face, Hermione grimaced as she remembered whose trial they were attending today. “It’s Malfoy’s trial today, isn’t it?”  
Ron looked murderous. “Yes. The bloody prat.”  
“You don’t think they’ll use Veritaserum on him, do you?” Hermione asked worriedly. She didn’t like Malfoy one bit, but no one deserved to have their family’s deepest, dirtiest secrets revealed to the whole world, especially when they involved joining up with Voldemort to save one’s father. “Because that stuff really isn’t fair at all.”  
“It’s Malfoy, ‘mione,” Ron snorted. “The guy who called you ‘mudblood’ and all sorts of other things?”  
“Yes. But he and his family deserve their privacy about things like trying to save each other’s arses from Voldemort.”  
“If you say so. Oh, by the way. What time are we supposed to meet your parents for dinner tonight?” Ron was obviously trying to prevent a fight. Hermione let it pass with an amused sigh and a shake of her head.  
“You probably know better than I do, Ronald. You made the plans.” She thought for a minute. “I think you told me seven. But it could have been six-thirty as well.”  
As the elevator came to a halt, Ron put a hand gently on Hermione’s cheek and kissed her, before taking her hand and leading her from the lift towards the torment that was the courtroom where the Wizengamot waited to try Draco Malfoy for his crimes against the world.

 

They came out of the courtroom, Harry in tow, after about two-and-a-half hours of interrogation, most of it directed towards Malfoy. “I can’t say I envy him his position,” Harry muttered, running a hand through his already disheveled hair and then pushing his glasses back up his nose. “He’s pretty much stuck with that mark forever, even though he admits he was stupid. You’d think Voldemort’s death would have removed the marks or something.”  
Hermione shook her head. “It’s like that spell I put on the DA list that caused those pimples all over what’s-her-name’s face. They don’t ever go away.”  
Ron whistled under his breath. “So the Malfoys are marked for life, even though they’ve repented? Wow. Even those evil bastards don’t deserve that. The Lestranges, maybe. Snape doesn’t deserve to have that on his arm in his crypt, not after everything he did to help us all those years.”  
“This from one of his biggest haters,” said Hermione, quietly.  
“Well, once I saw the memories for myself, I realized it was really just a front. He was trying not to get attached to Harry, seeing as how he was in love with his mum. Plus, he really was just like that naturally to almost everyone.”  
“He has a point, Hermione,” Harry said quietly. As he said that, he looked at his watch and nearly jumped all the way up to the street. “Merlin! I’m supposed to meet Ginny in Hogsmeade in 20 minutes. I’d better go if I want to change.” With a quickly exchanged set of goodbyes, Harry Apparated, presumably to his Grimmauld Place residence.  
Ron chuckled as he and Hermione waited for the lift. “Harry and Ginny are inseparable these days.”  
“I could say the same for us,” Hermione said, gently. They laced their fingers together as the lift doors opened and they stepped in, each grabbing one of the loops on the ceiling to brace themselves. On the next floor up, Ron’s father, Arthur Weasley, stepped onto the lift, smiling widely as he saw his youngest son holding his girlfriend’s hand.  
“Ah! Just the witch and wizard I was looking for. What time are the reservations for tonight?”  
Hermione looked at Ron with a “What is going on?” expression, which he responded to with am extremely smug smile before looking back to his father and answering the question. “7 pm at the Place Royale on Charring Cross Road. Muggle clothes, though, Dad. No robes.”  
“Excellent!” Arthur responded, stepping off the lift at the floor his office resided on, waving a cheery good-bye to the young couple as the metal grille door shut behind him.  
Hermione turned on Ron the minute the lift was in motion again, carrying them ever closer to the lobby where they would use the floo network to get to Muggle world above their heads. “What are you not telling me about tonight, Ronald? You’d better tell me and I mean that whole-heartedly.”  
“It’s a dinner, Hermione. I thought I told you that I invited my parents as well as yours?”  
“NO. You did not share that fact. It’s not that I mind but a little warning would have been nice. It also sets me on edge. Why go out to dinner with my parents and yours? Why not just go visit my parents together?”  
Ron chuckled. “I thought dinner would be nice. Very little chance of something going wrong for your parents’ house and not as much opportunity for my parents to embarrass us in front of people we’ll have to see a lot of in the future. And by “parents” I mean Dad, obviously. Although Mum has her moments, I’ll admit.”  
Hermione’s eyes narrowed at him for a moment before she sighed, shaking her head and rubbing at her now closed eyes with a hand. “Alright then, Ron. If you say it’s only dinner, I’ll take your word for it. Are Harry and Ginny coming? If they are, please tell me they’re going to help your parents look normal.” This was again a situation where Arthur was more at fault than his lovely wife, but even Mrs. Weasley dressed a little more outlandishly than was acceptable at a nice restaurant. And even though Hermione’s parents had grown rather used to the eccentricity of the magically raised wizards Hermione now spent the majority of her time with in the three years since she’d returned their memories, they were still shocked at some of the Weasley’s fashion choices, particularly Arthur’s habit of wearing metallic lime green pants with bulky sweaters, often in maroon and gold. Molly did alright for casual outings to the park or shopping. But for a nice dinner or a trip to the theater, it was better if Ginny or Hermione, both of whom had spent ample time in the Muggle world, helped her pick an outfit. Harry was usually charged with corralling Arthur since Ron spent little time in the Muggle world beyond what he spent out and about with Hermione.  
“Yes they’re coming. Yes they’ll help Mum and Dad get ready. Don’t worry. I took care of everything for you." Gently, he wrapped his arms around her waist and kissed her cheek. “Relax.”  
She nodded, melting into his arms as the tension slipped out of her body. “There’s just too much going on right now,” she sighed. “McGonagall told me in her letter yesterday that there’s some new creature in the lake and it’s caused a student to get hurt. Percy’s concerned. The entire department is rushing around trying to figure out what it could be. There’s talk of sending aurors and someone from the department of Magical Creatures to find it and dispose of it. Which means I’d have to be there while they searched to make sure it wasn’t interrupting any classes and that the students were safe and that the staff was able to keep a lid on things. It would be like Sirius’ escape from Azkaban all over again.”  
“Couldn’t you just send one of the people who work for you? I mean, think about it Hermione. You are the head of the Department.” Ron held her close, wanting to ease her stress just a bit.  
“I could. But it might cause some more rumblings. People are already upset that I was just given this job instead of earning it. But they realize that Percy has the power to name whoever he wants as head of the department and that he can fire them and replace them quite easily.”  
Ron snorted. “Percy likes to make threats. He probably won’t do anything.”  
“His threats are effective,” Hermione stated, matter-of-factly. “Have some respect, Ronald. He’s your brother and the Minister of Magic.”  
Kissing her cheek gently, Ron sighed. “Alright, Hermione. Alright already. I promise to try to respect Percy, The second he really earns that respect.”  
Hermione laughed, and patted Ron’s cheek as he pulled away from nuzzling her face. “You are a bit of a prat. I hope you know that.”  
“I’m your bit of a prat though. And that makes it all worth it.” Smiling, Ron took Hermione’s hand and led her off of the lift into the lobby.  
Recently redone, the lobby had been brightened up considerably by the addition of white paint to the wood paneled walls. The air was full of interdepartmental memos, many of which were written on the backs of old “Wanted” or “Public Enemy Number One” posters with Harry, Ron, and Hermione’s faces, or a list of known Muggle-borns that were still roaming free. Percy, wanting to be economical, had decided that the paper was just as good as any other. He hadn’t realized that the print couldn’t be charmed off until it was too late – the orders of paper had been cancelled for the coming year, meaning people sometimes had to use two sheets to send a memo that should have taken only one. And the entire Ministry was still nowhere near out of flyers. The lobby had grown considerably louder in the past year. Vendors hawked foods, many of which were international favorites, such as curry or crab-filled sushi rolls. Others still hawked the Daily Prophet and The Quibbler, which Luna had taken over and was currently running from Hogwarts. A bookstore and a branch of the Leaky Cauldron had been put in, so that Ministry workers could stop and catch their breath at various times throughout the day. New lights had been installed so that the whole place was as bright as a cloudless day above-ground.  
But the most important renovation by far was the statue in the center of the lobby. Percy had wanted to replace the statue put in by Voldemort’s cronies with the fountain that had been there before with the statues of a witch, wizard, centaur, house elf, and goblin as it had been in the lobby for several decades. But Hermione, Ginny, and Percy’s girlfriend, Penelope, had convinced him it was time for a change. The new statue showed a circle of various magical beings facing outward with a look of fierce determination on their faces. In the center of the circle stood a model of Hogwarts. Those in the circle were defending it – there was a centaur that looked like Firenze; a giant that looked like Grawp; a house elf that looked exactly like Dobby, right down to his socks; a suit of armor from inside the school; a witch who looked suspiciously like Hermione, although Percy always swore ‘til he was blue in the face that it wasn’t her, at least, not by his orders; a wizard who looked rather a lot like Dumbledore; and in the last spot stood the Sorting Hat, resting upon the hilt of the sword of Gryffindor, wearing Rowena Ravenclaw’s diadem and Salazar Slytherin’s locket, while Helena Hufflepuff’s cup and Tom Riddle’s diary rested nearby. The models of the Hat, sword and Horcruxes had been Harry’s suggestion, to represent what the circle was defending against and that Voldemort, like everyone else, was a person, despite how evil he was, and that he had loved Hogwarts even more than most people. The last bit hadn’t been mentioned to Percy, but Ron, Hermione and Ginny knew, and that was what mattered the most.  
After one last glimpse at the lobby, Hermione stepped into a fireplace and flooed to the public restroom above where she and Ron Apparated back to the Burrow.

 

There was a tense silence between Ron and Hermione as they walked from the gate to the house. Ron looked smug but still vaguely worried, as if he suspected something would go awry. Hermione was wrapped in her musings of what exactly Ron could be planning but not telling her. And the distance from the gate to the house stretched on forever.  
“Hermione, why don’t you go back to the apartment?” Ron asked suddenly. “You can get ready in peace and quiet. And you won’t have to worry about getting roped into helping Mum.”  
Hermione narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Fine. I don’t know what you’re up to, Ron, but I’ll play along.” Ron grinned innocently at her before kissing her on the cheek and watching as she Apparated away.  
“Bloody hell, I forgot how hard it is to surprise her,” he muttered as he headed for the Burrow.


	2. Chapter Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Previously: Ron surprises Hermione by admitting that he has invited both of their parents to dinner, as well as Harry and Ginny. This chapter: A surprise is coming!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own HP, but I own the plot and my OC's.

Hermione plopped down on the couch for a few seconds after appearing in the center of the apartment. She wondered, idly, whether she should try to sneak up on Ron at the Burrow and figure out exactly what was going on, before shaking her head and reminding herself that if he wanted to surprise her then that’s what she should allow him to do, despite her misgivings about surprises. Glancing at the clock, she slowly slid off the couch and headed for the bedroom, where she rifled through her side of the closet for an appropriate outfit.  
After a few seconds, she heaved a heavy sigh. “I don’t even know what’s appropriate!” she exclaimed heatedly.  
Just as she was preparing to grab her wand and send a Patronus to the Burrow to ask Ron, she heard the unmistakable sound of someone landing in her foyer. “Hermione, are you here?” Ginny called out.  
“I’m in the bedroom,” Hermione replied. “Trying to decide what to wear.”  
“Oh good then I caught you in time,” Ginny replied, her voice drawing nearer as she headed through the apartment towards the bedroom. “Ron said to tell you that he wants you to wear that black dress of yours. The one with the lace on the hem that you wore to Mum and Dad’s anniversary party. Says it’ll be perfect.” As she finished relaying the message, Ginny came to rest against the door frame of the bedroom, looking around with some interest.  
“Thank you! I was just about to send a Patronus to ask him. He really has thought of everything this time hasn’t he?”  
Ginny nodded before her gaze settled on the bed. “Oi! How did you manage to get that up the stairs?”  
Hermione looked over at the queen sized canopy bed before laughing. “Magic, Ginny. Obviously. Zip me up?” she asked, turning her back to her friend.  
“Well, it’s obvious magic was involved but what magic? Did you shrink it and stuff it into that little beaded bag of yours?”  
Hermione laughed and shook her head. That infamous little bag. “We did shrink it. But I didn’t put it in the bag. I lost that in the mass of boxes when we moved. I’m not sure which one I put it in and I’m very sure it’s in our storage unit.”  
Ginny chuckled and zipped up the back of Hermione’s dress. “There. Now go finish getting ready. I have to go get myself and Mum dressed. See you in a few!” Hermione waved and then Ginny disappeared with a twirl and a pop.  
The quick intrusion of her friend had raised Hermione’s expectations, and suspicions, slightly. Ron was really going all out, asking her to doll herself up and having the rest of the family do the same. “What are you up to Ronald?” she murmured as she sat down at the bathroom counter makeup table that had made the flat all the more appealing to Hermione.

 

Just as Hermione finished getting ready, she heard the familiar tapping of Ron’s shoes on the floor just inside the door to the flat. “Ready to go, ‘mione?” he called as he headed back towards their bedroom.  
“Yeah. Just finished, actually,” Hermione responded, rising from her seat at her makeup area and heading out into the bedroom to meet Ron.  
As he caught sight of her, Ron’s eyes widened considerably and he whistled under his breath. “Well. Way to show me up. Bloody hell, Hermione.”  
Hermione blushed. Her hair, arranged in an intricate bun composed of interwoven loops, had been a product of excess time and boredom. Her makeup, although simple, definitely highlighted her eyes, which she knew Ron loved.  
Ron composed himself and offered his arm to Hermione. “Well, shall we go? We have just enough time to take a taxi over to the restaurant.”  
Hermione nodded and took his arm, allowing Ron to lead her to the door and down the stairs to the street below. It was the last calm moment she had all evening.

 

Taxis were hard to catch in their neighborhood, but they eventually caught one, somehow bypassing most of the traffic on the way. They arrived at the restaurant only moments before the rest of their family, just as their reservation became available.  
Once they were all seated (there was, of course, a bit of a fuss involving who was going to sit where. Mr. and Mrs. Granger wanted to sit next to Hermione, but so did Ginny, and Harry wanted to sit next to Ron but so did Mrs. Weasley. The whole issue was eventually resolved by having the men line one side of the table and the women the other, with Ron and Hermione at one end and Harry and Ginny at the other.), Ron stood, looking prepared to say something important. Everyone hushed and turned to look at him expectantly.  
“I’d like to thank you all for joining Hermione and myself here tonight. It means a lot to us. Recently, I came to a realization that I have been dating this wonderful witch across the table from me for three and a half years. And that those years have been some of the best of my life.” Hermione blushed, grinning happily. “And I also realized that I don’t know what I would do without her. Which is why I went to her father a few weeks ago and asked him a serious question. I asked him if he would approve of my asking Hermione to marry her. And he told me, wholeheartedly, that he couldn’t picture anyone better for his daughter. Which is why I pulled this whole thing together.” He paused and looked at Hermione before slowly stepping around the table and getting on one knee. “Hermione I have been in love with you for so long, I’m not even really sure when it started. But if I had to hazard a guess, I would say it was the day you punched Malfoy in third year, the day we found out the truth about Sirius and Scabbers. And ever since, the only girl in the world who I can see myself with forever is you. So, will you, Hermione Jean Granger, do me the honor of agreeing to be my wife?”  
Hermione, who had known that the proposal was coming since Ron mentioned asking her father for her hand, still gasped and felt herself tearing up. Her hands flew up, covering her mouth as she sat there, stunned. Ron had pulled out a ring box and he opened it now, revealing a small silver band with an amethyst set into it. Unable to speak, Hermione nodded vigorously and put a hand on Ron’s cheek, bending over to kiss him.  
“Thought you’d say yes,” Ron muttered as the kiss broke.  
“How could I not?” Hermione replied, finally able to speak again.  
Ron chuckled and slipped the ring on her finger before rising and taking his seat again, making a discrete motion to Harry before sitting. Harry, taking this as his cue, rose from his own seat and smiled at everyone. “Now, I don’t want to go trampling on anyone’s happy news, and special moments, but I have something I myself would like to say and do.”  
He cleared his throat and began his own speech. “Like Ron, I couldn’t tell you exactly when I fell in love with Ginny, but my guess would be in the months after the battle at the Ministry. That being said, she and I have been dating for four, almost five years if you count the time I was looking for Horcruxes with Ron and Hermione. And throughout that whole period, she has been supportive and done everything she could to help me with any problems I had. My life wouldn’t be the same without her, so I did what any man looking to make an honorable woman out of his girl should do – I asked her father and brothers if they approved of my asking her to marry me. And they all said “Well it’s about bloody time!” before wishing me the best of luck.” Harry dropped to one knee beside Ginny and offered her a ring box, containing the antique ring that had been passed down in his father’s family for generations, the one that had been placed in the family vault at Gringott’s upon his parents’ death. “Ginevra Weasley, will you marry me?”  
“Harry, of course I’ll marry you,” Ginny said, smiling. She kissed him and then took the ring and slipped it on her finger herself. Raising her hand to show off the ring she proclaimed, “I’m getting married!!” Together, she and Hermione squealed with joy.  
The rest of dinner consisted of congratulations and the beginning of discussions of wedding plans. Ginny and Hermione agreed to be each others’ maids of honor, while Harry and Ron mutually skimmed over the assumption that they would fill the role of best man for each other. There was also talk about whether Ron and Hermione would have a Muggle ceremony and a Wizard ceremony, or if they would simply have the one and then fulfill the legal requirements for the other.  
“Well, really, I think you should have both ceremonies,” Mrs. Granger was saying. “It would be a shame to deprive the Weasleys’ family the chance to attend an actual ceremony, and something tells me that their attendance at a Muggle ceremony might not go so well.”   
Molly Weasley sighed and nodded her head. “You have that right, I’m afraid. Much as I would like for the two sides of the family to be able to meet at one ceremony, the Weasleys cannot attend a Muggle ceremony and your extended family can’t attend a Wizarding ceremony. And neither side will really be happy with just a reception.”  
“Your father and I can pay for the Muggle ceremony and reception. We’ve been saving for this since you were little. And when you got your Hogwarts letter, we combined your University and wedding funds, so there’s even more money for this. We tried to plan ahead. We figured you wouldn’t want to attend a Muggle university, but that you would eventually get married.” Mrs. Granger patted Hermione’s hand reassuringly.  
“Oh Mum,” Hermione said, ready to protest.  
“Now, now, Hermione. Let your mother and I do this for you and Ronald,” Mr. Granger said from beside Ron. “We want to.”  
Hermione sighed and sat back in defeat. “Alright. Fine. But you can’t pay for any part of the Wizarding ceremony. Not even the dress robes I’ll buy for you to wear so that you don’t feel like you stick out.”  
“Deal,” Mr. and Mrs. Granger said simultaneously, causing Hermione to giggle.   
Hermione looked down the table at Ginny. “You are so lucky you can just have a Wizard style ceremony and be done with it. Even if Harry invites the Dursleys.”  
“The last wedding in my family was Bill and Fleur’s four years ago. Try topping that for a memorable event,” Ginny snorted. “Harry and I are going to have one hell of a time. Although the press coverage alone of the Chosen One, the Boy Who Lived, marrying his long time flame could possibly make it more memorable than Bill and Fleur’s, if we have to quash rumors and chase off the next Rita Skeeter. Or Skeeter herself. I swear, the fact that she’s still working is a real shock to the system every time I see her by-line.” Ginny shuddered and took a bite of her dinner, a beautiful looking salmon dish that Hermione was wishing she had ordered as well, instead of her chicken Caesar salad.  
“I think we can keep the reporters away, Ginny. And Rita Skeeter won’t be working much longer. Someone spotted her transitioning from her unregistered Animagus form, which I know I personally have felt bad about concealing from Kingsley, and reported it. Normally, it would just be a fine and a forced registry. But Skeeter was stupid enough to transform in front of a couple of Muggles.” Harry paused to take a sip of his drink before continuing. “Combine that with the fact that she fell in pretty easily with the Death Eater control of the Ministry and worked pretty well for them, she’s had a cell in Azkaban coming her way for a while.”  
“Whatever became of that Umbridge woman you hated? Didn’t she work with the Death Eaters against Muggle-borns?” Mrs. Granger asked curiously.  
Ron and the others darkened. Hermione finally worked up the ability to speak. “She was among the first group of people tried. Her trial was about a month before I managed to come get you and Dad, so, about a year and a half out from Harry’s defeat of Voldemort. Anyway, Umbridge insisted that she had been put under the Imperius curse, which is a spell that makes you do whatever the caster tells you to. Many Hogwarts students and staff members testified that she was like that before Voldemort rose to power. Dumbledore’s stored memories helped immensely, as did my, Ron and Harry’s testimonies as to Umbridge’s favorite forms of punishment when she was a professor at school. Cornelius Fudge, who was Minister of Magic when Voldemort returned to power, testified against her, which really shocked her. He admitted that she was always ruthless and had always been kind of uppity about the fact that she was a witch from a family several generations removed from any Muggle heritage there might be. And, of course, she was a distant relation of the Lestranges, on her father’s side. Anyway, after all that testimony against her, her defense attorney called only two witnesses in her favor and they were Argus Filch, the school caretaker, and Lucius Malfoy, who claimed to never have seen Umbridge at any meetings of the bigwigs even though several others state that they saw her go into those meetings, at Malfoy Manor and at the ministry itself. After all that, she was found guilty of several things and had her wand snapped into several pieces rather than the regular two. She was sent to Azkaban, but only for a few years. After that, her memories will be wiped and she’ll be sent into the Muggle world with false memories and made to live as a Muggle for the rest of her days. It’s just a shame they can’t change her personality.”  
There was a murmur of agreement around the table and then silence fell as everyone contemplated the fate of those who had been on the wrong side of the war. It wasn’t until dessert was brought around a few minutes later that conversation began again, returning to the topic of wedding plans.  
“What colors are you thinking of for your weddings, Hermione?” Mrs. Weasley asked as a large slice of chocolate cake was set down in front of her.  
“Well,” Hermione replied. “I like the idea of silver and a very light blue or yellow. I also have considered a deeper blue with a nice bright, pleasant yellow. It really kind of depends on where the ceremonies happen. If the wizarding ceremony happens at the Burrow, I want the deeper, richer colors because to me it just feels right. But if we have it somewhere else, although I don’t know why we would really, it would simply depend on the space.”  
Mrs. Weasley nodded and Mrs. Granger asked about dates. “I’d like to get married in the fall,” Hermione responded. “With the leaves changing. Early October, perhaps?” She looked at Ron.  
“I’m not getting in the way of this,” Ron said. “Just give me a date and tell me what I need to do to make it go smoothly for you, and it’s done.”  
Everyone laughed at this, and Hermione nodded, a large goofy grin on her face.  
“I second that,” Harry added, through the laughter.  
That effectively turned the attention to Ginny, who mentioned that she was actually considering red and a nice shade of gray with bronze accents for a nice summer wedding. “I’ve always liked how Hermione looks in red, and I figure if Fleur and Luna don’t look great in red, then I can always put them in gray and hope for the best. You are going to ask George and Neville or Seamus to be groomsmen, aren’t you Harry?”  
Harry nodded. “I was actually thinking of asking George, Neville and Seamus. And I was thinking that Teddy could be the ring bearer. So that leaves you one bridesmaid and a flower girl to find, sweetheart.”  
Ginny nodded and said, “Well Angelina is the obvious other choice for a bridesmaid. But a flower girl. That’s going to be a problem. Victoire is too young, I think. Even next year, she’ll be a little young. I mean, at four would she really be able to do that? I mean, aren’t four year olds really hyper and stuff? And Victoire’s shy. So who has an older little girl that we can ask to prepare the aisle for me?”  
Mrs. Weasley offered an alternative. “What if we just enchant the flower petals to fall?”  
“Then the wedding party is uneven,” Ginny said. “I mean, if we didn’t have a ring bearer or flower girl, like Bill and Fleur, then it would be fine. But I think it’s sweet that Harry wants to include Teddy in the wedding. I mean, he is like our child in a way. He lives with us while I’m on off-season and he spends at least one night a week with us during the season.”  
“Maybe we could include him in our vows? Dudley and his new wife did that with her little girl,” Harry said, recalling the wedding that had been one of the first things Dudley had invited him to after the sad separation before the last few months of the war. They had been in contact for a few years and had met up a few times to simply talk and connect, but they had kept separate lives, for the most part, trying to get back on their feet after the war and then the loss of Uncle Vernon from a sudden heart attack about two years after the war. Dudley’s wedding had been one of two events Harry and Ginny had been invited to, occurring a year or so after Uncle Vernon’s passing.   
Ginny considered. “I like that idea. Mum, what do you think?”  
Mrs. Weasley smiled. “I think it’s a brilliant idea. He can sit in the front row with me and your father.”  
Ginny smiled and then yawned. “Oh this is going to be tiring, I can already tell.”  
“Try planning two,” Ron replied. “You’re going to have to help Hermione.” He looked at his fiancée. “I think we can do this October. It’s only January, so we have about eight months. Do you think we can pull this together that fast?”  
Hermione thought that over before nodding. “Between me, Ginny and our mothers? Eight months may be too much time.” The party laughed again, and soon after people began drifting out in couples to head home.


End file.
